Chapter Text
In a restaurant in the city of Mirula, two people were receiving stares from the other tables for their "filthy" habits. The two people in question were a boy with frightening eyes and black hair wearing strange clothes that mixed black and orange, and a short girl with white hair and a blindfold, whose clothes mixed black, white, and purple. Both were wearing desert-appropriate clothing that could be purchased in the city itself.
The two were making a real mess, brutally devouring the food without mercy or patience. A merchant from Kararagi who was in the restaurant recognized that these were not just bad habits, but the hunger of those who had endured extreme conditions. He recognized that hunger in former slaves.
The most bizarre part is that in the end, the table was completely clean. Somehow nothing was left, not even the crumbs that fell on the table or the floor; everything had been devoured.
The boy, whose name was Natsuki Subaru, asked the waiter for the bill. Daphne stared temptedly at the silverware, wondering if it could be her next victim. Subaru paid the bill and turned to the witch. “Daph, are you full?”
“Not at all~”
Subaru smiled gently. “Good to know, me neither.”
He took her hand as he helped her up. Daphne couldn't walk properly because of the hunger pangs, so Subaru always held her hand while they walked.
Daphne smiled longingly. “Does that mean we can have seconds?~”
Subaru frowned. “You know that's not what I meant!”
Daphne didn't quite know what was happening. She should have died in the desert, torn apart from the inside by her endless hunger. However, in the blink of an eye, she was back in the same desert. Her need to eat still existed, but it wasn't as strong for now.
Unbeknownst to her, her body no longer seemed to be 13 or 14 years old. In fact, her body corresponded to someone 17 years old. Unfortunately, Daphne's body hadn't developed much, as she was practically malnourished.
She didn't know what to do. The will to end world hunger had died a little before her, in that same desert. Daphne understood her failure in her only mission.
The Witch of Gluttony would still hunt when the wave of famine came. This was inevitable, but Daphne wondered if she wanted to have the same ending as before.
Daphne's life mission was to end world hunger. She had created a legion of Mabeasts, along with the Three Great Mabeasts, to fulfill her purpose. Failure was the result.
Daphne gave up after that. While alive, she only had her mission and her endless hunger. Failing to satiate the world's hunger only transformed her into an animal that exists only to eat and feel the pain of an empty stomach. The Witch of Gluttony made her choice in that desert; she made one last gift for a friend and then accepted her end.
Endless hunger was cruel. Being hungry was already painful, but this forced Daphne to try to eat everything to satisfy her gluttony. The witch was already very familiar with that pain, but there were still the peaks. During endless hunger, it always hurt, but the longer Daphne went without eating something to try to satisfy herself, the more the pain increased.
Endless hunger was also endless pain.
The Witch of Gluttony was interrupted from these thoughts by a faintly familiar scent nearby. The scent, which she later discovered belonged to Subaru, was hesitant to approach her.
Daphne didn't force it; her hunger hadn't yet kicked in. It wasn't even necessary, as a few minutes later she heard Subaru's cries approaching her, pursued by a Mabeast.
Natsuki ran after her. Daphne's hunger began to demand food. Without any remorse, the witch pounced on her own creations and began to devour them.
After a hearty meal, Daphne calmed down momentarily. It was at this moment that Subaru seized the opportunity to grab her, lift her up, and run with her through the desert.
The only thing Natsuki said at that moment was something like... “Sorry, but I can’t leave you in this place—” He was interrupted by a Mabeast that appeared in the middle of the desert and started chasing after them.
The journey to the city of Mirula had been more or less like this, Subaru running with Daphne on his back while the Witch of Gluttony ate her own creations that tried to devour them. Mabeasts shouldn’t attack in that region so close to the city, but Daphne and Subaru were two walking sources of miasma.
Before reaching the nearest city, they had a very simple introduction.
“Sorry about earlier. My name is Natsuki Subaru.” He was still running with her on his back. “I would have made a better introduction if we weren’t in such a desperate situation.”
“Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony.”
“A pretty cool title.” No one in their right mind would say that. “I know it must be a bit late to ask, but could you not eat me until we get to the city? I know it’s a difficult request, since I’m very appetizing, but restrain yourself, woman!”
Daphne would have winked from behind the blindfold. People usually didn’t get close to her when they knew she could eat them. Much less make prolonged physical contact with her. Well, she certainly wouldn’t complain if Subaru was running such a high risk of becoming one of her meals.
“So you’re the ‘Gluttony Witch’?”
Daphne nodded at Subaru’s question.
“And you created all those monsters that were chasing us to try and end world hunger?”
Daphne nodded again.
“And you should be dead, but for some reason, you’re not?”
“Yes~”
“I got myself into a real mess, didn’t I?” Subaru ran a hand over his face to contemplate his life choices in this new world. “Unfortunately, it’s too late to look back now. After all, I’ve already made my choice.”
Upon arriving in Mirula, Subaru sold his phone for approximately 30 gold coins to a merchant passing through the city. The 30 gold coins were enough to sustain them for a while, but Daphne’s hunger really made things difficult. The two were staying at an inn for the time being. Mirula was a city that enchanted Subaru. His otaku heart raced just looking at the desert climate and architecture. He was still processing the fact that he had gone anywhere but his room; it truly was otherworldly.
The question of how they could survive in that city arose. Because of Daphne's hunger, they needed a way to make easy money. Selling his phone was useful, but what to do afterward? His purchases were lost in the desert. Subaru wondered if it would be a good idea to sell inventions from his old world to get money.
At that very moment, they were in the living room. Subaru didn't want to take his eyes off the Witch of Gluttony, afraid she might eat some of the furniture.
"What choice would that be~?" Daphne asked.
Subaru smiled. He struck one of his iconic poses, unfortunately the Witch of Gluttony couldn't see it, so it was pretty useless. “I, Natsuki Subaru, will save you from this endless hunger!”
Subaru hoped he was making a cool presentation, but unfortunately Daphne responded with an annoyed face. Natsuki sighed before continuing. “I know I'm not very capable, but I'll do everything I can to help you.” He shuddered. “Even if I have to die for it.”
Slowly, the Witch of Gluttony gave a wide smile before bursting into hysterical laughter. “If you think you can~. I'll be happy to see you try.”
Subaru wasn't going to lie, he found everything Daphne did terrifying, so he thought of a quick way to distract himself.
“You won't regret trusting me, Daph!” He masked his fear with overconfidence.
“Daph? Are you already calling me that, Subarun?~” She retorted.
Subaru feigned surprise. “Look, I didn’t expect that from you, you know how to respond to provocations without biting.”
“I know how to do both very well~” To reinforce her arguments, the Witch of Gluttony lunged forward and gave Subaru a light bite, causing him to grunt in pain. He only survived because of her will.
Daphne found Subaru funny. He faithfully believed what he himself was saying. Natsuki also cared for her with great affection, even knowing what kind of person she was and the things she did. This reminded Daphne of her parents; she wondered if he would taste as good as they did…
Anyway, Daphne would hold back from devouring Subaru so quickly. She wanted to see if he would keep his word, or if he would choose to give up halfway through, or if he would be consumed trying.
A few minutes after their visit to the restaurant, Subaru and Daphne were strolling through the city. Natsuki used this time to reflect. When he first appeared in this world, he had the idea of becoming a great hero or something like that. It was already clear that he probably wasn't the protagonist of this world, much less Daphne. So he was reconsidering.
“Daph, do you have any specific plan or location you'd prefer over this city?” Natsuki asked Daphne, who was obviously eating a snack at that moment with her only free hand, the other holding his.
“Mhm. Not that I recall. Mhm, can't we go somewhere of your choosing or stay here?” She asked between bites and chews.
“I don’t know anything about this world. I also need to find some place that has a way to…” Subaru’s voice grew lower at the end of the sentence; he remembered Daphne’s laughter the last time he had told her his promise.
“Mhm, well, if you insist.” The witch pointed to a distant spot, impossible for her to see, but Daphne was pointing to a tower far away. “I sense four strong presences in that region. One of them is my creation.”
“Daph, suddenly I’m not so excited anymore.”
“Mhm, this one is different. It’s not hungry like the others. Which is strange since I don’t remember creating something that wasn’t hungry.”
Subaru sighed. He didn’t know the complete story, but Daphne’s creations didn’t seem so interesting to meet; he had some experience with that. “You said four presences, what are the other three?”
The Witch of Gluttony gave a mischievous smile. "I think they're tasters like me." Unbeknownst to her, Daphne pointed to the Pleiades watchtower and was referring to the three archbishops of the sin of Gluttony.
Another day, Subaru and Daphne were back at the inn and, to no one's surprise, they were eating. This time, Subaru wanted to try something new; he was currently using a spoon to feed Daphne.
“Why are we even doing this~?” she asked between spoonfuls. “I can eat much faster by myself.”
“Sorry, Daph.” Subaru wasn't at all sorry. “There's something strangely satisfying about it.”
The two continued doing this for a while in silence. If you asked Daphne one of the reasons she tolerated Subaru instead of eating him right away, she would answer that Subaru was a good distraction from her hunger.
Daphne was always in pain, so having someone who didn't know when to stop talking was surprisingly pleasant.
“So, Daph, I did some research on that place you pointed out, and it seems dangerous.” Subaru spoke while continuing to feed the Gluttony Witch into its little mouth. “Can you protect us both? I’m useless against those things, and I’m not really keen on dying either. Twice is more than enough for me.”
“I think I can manage~. I haven’t found anything yet that I can’t eat in just one bite.” Daphne ignored Subaru’s morbid comment as just another piece of nonsense he spouted almost constantly.
Natsuki seemed bothered by this. It was practically the first time he’d been bothered by one of her actions. After a while, Subaru shook his head negatively and gave Daphne two light taps on the head, as if he were reprimanding her. “Don’t play with your prey, please, it hurts too much to be eaten by you.”
Daphne complained. “But if I’m hunting, they need to have a chance to defend themselves~. That’s why I restrain myself.”
"That explains how I managed to get the blindfold off her that time" Subaru thought. He gave Daphne two more pats on the head, who complained with a loud "Ouch!"
Night was the Witch of Gluttony's favorite part of the day. It was there that she could sleep and forget the pain of hunger and failure. Nightmares haunted Daphne, reinforcing how she would never be able to satiate her own hunger or the world's.
Daphne never could bear this fact and never would. That's why, 400 years ago, her last act was to make a gift for a friend and then throw herself into the desert to await her end.
Her will would be ignored when the wave of hunger came. Daphne would unconsciously attack anything that could serve as food for her. That's why the Witch of Gluttony chose the desert to die. Nothing there could save her from hunger.
These thoughts attacked Daphne as she slept. To ward them off, she unconsciously walked to the nearest living being and lightly bit it. Subaru was the chosen one. In truth, he was already quite used to it.
That was why the Witch of Gluttony had been enjoying sleeping so much since she was revived. Sleeping was almost like death; at that moment she could shut off her thoughts and pain. Unfortunately, even while sleeping she was still tormented, but in these nightmares the torment was much less than when she was awake.
Daphne didn't know why she hadn't tried to die again. Deep down, she knew it was the same reason she hadn't devoured Subaru. She wanted to see if he could keep his word. The Witch of Gluttony laughed when Natsuki promised to save her, but a part of Daphne wanted to believe him.
Daphne wasn't the only one being attacked by nightmares. Subaru was suffering the same fate. Natsuki dreamed from time to time that he was being devoured by the Witch of Gluttony, but the worst nightmare was when he felt that hunger again.
In the middle of the night, Subaru woke up biting his own hand. Unlike Daphne's bites, these left ugly marks. Natsuki stood up, slightly freeing himself from Daphne's bite, and walked to the bathroom to bandage his hand.
Subaru couldn't help but think about what had happened to trigger these nightmares. He was summoned to that world thinking he would be a hero, but the first thing that happened was that he encountered Daphne and was devoured by her.
The pain was immense, so much so that when Return by Death was activated for the first time, he didn't immediately realize what was happening. Still in shock, Subaru walked to Daphne again; she bit him after a while. The pain was enough to snap Natsuki out of his shock and try to fight her.
Subaru didn't stand a chance; even a cornered rat had some strength. Unknowingly, Subaru removed Daphne's blindfold and saw her eyes. He was struck by her insatiable hunger; this was somehow worse than being devoured.
Endless hunger also means endless pain.
His last thoughts before being devoured were recognizing that this was the agony she was going through. Subaru spoke decisive words at that moment.
“I will save you.”
He didn't know if that had come out audible, since he was probably missing pieces at that time, but that wouldn't change what he said.
Returning to the present, Subaru finished bandaging his hand and looked in the mirror. "Daphne is a deplorable person who only cares about herself and does horrible things. In many ways, she's very similar to me. The only difference is that Daph suffers from a curse; I did everything I did for my own pleasure and will."
Subaru shook his head and decided to go back to sleep. Daphne could bite some furniture If he stopped being her biting toy for too long.